Moving on

Many changes have come into my my life in the last year and a half and one of them has been moving to Hulhumale, the artificial half-formed island a few kilometres north of Male.

Many of my once close friends in Male, where I was born and bred, have no idea of the impact of these changes. But I've been lucky enough to make new friends who've shared and supported my attempts to build something of a new life out here.

As someone who likes an active lifestyle involving physical exercise, a healthy diet, and hard work (in my case filmmaking) Hulhumale seems an obvious choice to drop the anchor. Although it took some time to adapt to the new routine, initially, for instance, I had to commute to and from Male for my short-term but full-time job, I now feel that I'm 'acclimatised' to my new life. I'm still behind work, but catching up fast, and in a fortnight or so, hope to start looking for regular, meaningful work.

I'm currently editing a making of documentary for an Indian feature film and also writing the script for a short film to be made on my new home island. Sha-sha and Ya-ya, fellow-filmmakers, came to photograph Hulhumale and to look at some of the planned locations for this film, and I hope they don't mind me putting an image grab of them in this post.

I still think of my close friends back in Male with whom I used to interact regularly, to share thoughts on things going on around the world and within ourselves. But these are gradually becoming a thing of the past. It's amazing how a few kilometres can make such a big difference to friendship.

Fortunately my active lifestyle, my new friends, my work, and my plans for future work are keeping me busy.

I have just rented a nice place on Hulhumale for an year.

So, I don't think I will be returning to Male.